


Kairos Moment

by Rivulet027



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Background Relationships, Deaf Hartley Rathaway, Gen, Hartley Rathaway is Not Okay, POV Hartley Rathaway, Season/Series 01, Survivor Guilt, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-23 20:57:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18156968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivulet027/pseuds/Rivulet027
Summary: Hartley struggles after the particle accelerator explodes.





	Kairos Moment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [greerwatson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/greerwatson/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with DC. It's not my toy box and I'm merely playing.
> 
> A/N: Thank you to midnightclarity for the beta. Rob is mentioned as David's fiance that died during the particle accelerator explosion. There is some minor Caitlin/Ronnie and a mention of Clarissa/Martin. Hartley is slapped once.

Hartley’s problem is that he trusts Wells. After being rejected by his parents he throws himself into work and his trust in Harrison Wells. It undoes something in him when he realizes how misplaced his trust was. Harrison asks him not to double check his calculations and Hartley, though he thinks the request odd, trusts. Then they turn the particle accelerator on, and he feels everything inside of him lurch with uncertainty as he sees the readings come flying in. He should’ve doubled checked Harrison’s calculations.

He wakes up in pain in the hospital. Everything feels jumbled and distant, but the one thing he does know is that Ronnie paid for Hartley’s trust in Wells with his life. He and Ronnie were friends. Ronnie was the only one that would laugh at Hartley’s sarcasm and reply back in kind. He wants to be angry with Wells, he wants to blame Wells, but Hartley finds that he blames himself. He always double checks everyone’s work and with a task as prestigious as turning the particle accelerator on he should’ve done so.

By the time Caitlin and Cisco figure out how to help him not be in pain Star Labs is partly back up and running, only most coworkers have moved on. He’s sure someone is suing.Hhe’s not sure how the company still has money to keep the lights on. He guesses he should be grateful that they’ve found a way to help him filter the new input he’s getting.

“You never said you were deaf,” Cisco frowns at him as they’re adjusting the volume on the rather clunky devices that will allow Hartley to hear at a volume that’s not overwhelming.

“Would knowing have affected our working relationship in the slightest?” Hartley glares. He’s grateful to no longer needs pain medicine to keep him from writhing in agony, but he doesn’t want the pity on Cisco’s face.

“I would have at least faced you while I was talking to you.”

There’s normalcy in the way Cisco is glaring at him and Hartley feels himself relax. 

“My abuela was hard of hearing before she died. I know a little sign language,” Cisco continues.

For a brief moment Hartley hesitates. He knows six languages and yet he’s been hesitant to learn sign language because his parents had been so opposed. What is he supposed to do, ask Cisco to teach him? Hartley points to the device that looks more like headphones than hearing aids. “We could be productive and fix this.”

Cisco responds with an almost fond smile. Hartley glares. Cisco grins slowly. “It’s nice to know that despite some drastic side effects your winning personality didn’t suffer any losses.”

Before he can sling back an insult Caitlin and Wells bring Barry Allen into the lab. Hartley isn’t the only one who’s suffered consequences of the accelerator explosion. Some people are dead or missing, others like Allen are injured. Hartley doesn’t even know Allen, but he feels guilty that the other man is in a coma. He wants to be angry with Wells, but he doesn’t have the energy. He’s slowly sliding into a simmering resentment.

Then Wells takes him aside and offers to pay for his medical expenses, except Wells makes his proposal while obviously trying to quick talk him into it. Every part of Hartley suddenly feels cold and still. Wells always talks to him directly and deliberately, he’s never slowed down the way he’s talked, but he’s never sped up like this either.

Hartley wants to be angry. He wants to be snarky and fling insults at Wells. He wants to be calculating and dig into what really happened the day they turned the particle accelerator on. He wants to find proof that this is all Wells’ fault. He wants to stop feeling guilty and have someone to blame. He also has hospital bills he can’t afford, and his hearing is changing into something he’s never experienced before and isn’t sure how to manage yet. He’s scared and not sure he wants to be exploring the possibilities of what he’s becoming with someone who isn’t Caitlin. At least he knows she won’t turn him into a lab experiment.

“Do you have a contract you want me to sign?” He needs to read all the details before he agrees to anything.

Wells pulls a contract out of his desk drawer and slaps the large stack of papers between them.

Hartley wraps his fingers around the papers and pulls them close. “How long are you giving me to go over them?”

“End of the day. Stay or leave, your choice.”

“The applications I’ve put out were for part time work.” His words feel plaintive and Hartley almost wishes he could pull them back into his mouth and swallow them down. It’s nearly the time they all go home, and this contract is easily hours worth of reading.

Hartley stares at it suddenly remember all the times it felt like Wells was using someone like a pawn. He suddenly wishes he’d questioned more. He shoves the contract back and leaves.

He nearly panics when he gets back to his apartment. He does berate himself for not digging through the computers and getting proof that Wells knew the particle accelerator would explode before they turned it on. Trying to ignore how exhausted he feels he drops into the chair at his desk, turns on his computer and starts looking for a new job.

Cisco texts, asking if he’s quit. The he and Caitlin show up with dinner. When Hartley opens his door Cisco asks, “What did you mean by an untenable offer?”

“Google it.”

“I know what the words mean, asshole. What did Wells offer you?” Cisco elaborates.

Hartley struggles not to smile at the normalcy of Cisco calling him an asshole. He hasn’t had a whole lot of normalcy lately. Somehow, he manages to shrug. “He wanted me out, I’m out.”

“Well, I still need to monitor you,” Caitlin points out.

Dinner involves small talk none of them are really good at but segues into theories on just what Hartley is able to do now and the tech they can build to keep him from being in pain. It quickly becomes clear they expect him to stay on with Star Labs, at least in a consulting way. He doesn’t know what to tell them.

He gets hired into Mercury labs the same day he receives a bill from Star Labs. Caitlin doesn’t share with him how she makes the bill go away, but he gets to visit Star Labs once a week to let Caitlin look him over and to consult with Cisco on the latest projects they’re working on. It’s enough interaction that Hartley still gets computer access to Star Labs. He finds the evidence that proves Wells had to know the particle accelerator was going to explode. He doesn’t know what to do with this. Why did he trust Wells? Why didn’t he double check all the work? If he makes this public anyone who ever is suing Wells will win, right?

Then there’s the sick, startling realization as he looks at his monthly budget and realizes the measly checks he’s getting from Star Labs are the only thing really keeping him afloat. He knows he has the evidence he needs to destroy Wells, he just can’t use it yet. He spirals into feeling like a failure and a fraud.

He goes to work. He visits Star Labs when he’s scheduled to. He ignores that the lab changes to test Barry’s abilities. He stares at the suit Cisco had to have put together and ignores the craving to see all the details and see if there are ways to improve it. He pays his bills.

He finds out that there are get togethers for the people that survived or were affected by the particle accelerator explosion. He goes. He listens where he can. Sometimes he fluctuates between guilt and anger. He keeps hoping he’ll find someone else that was affected in the same way he is. He doesn’t. He should ask Caitlin about Barry, but he doesn’t want to hear about patient confidentiality. He doesn’t want to give up the illusion that on some level he and Caitlin are friends. He’s not a lab rat. They talk about what she already knows he can do: hear and differentiate frequency. He doesn’t tell her he’s built a pair of sonic gloves or that he’s figured out a way to use his ability to make it so others can’t see him.

Then when he’s heading home he thinks he sees Ronnie, except his clothes are tattered. The lighting is poor and when Hartley calls out to him the man doesn’t react. The man ducks into an alleyway and Hartley doesn’t feel comfortable following so he heads home. The next day, when he’s free, Hartley finds a table outside at a nearby coffee shop. A part of him is certain he’s seen Ronnie, even if that makes no sense because Ronnie died trying to contain the explosion. Caitlin told him Ronnie is dead. She’s still mourning him. Hartley needs to satisfy his curiosity, he needs to try.

Hands slowly grip the chair across from him and Hartley shifts his gaze from the street to the man standing there. 

“David,” Hartley realizes. “You’re David.”

David goes to some of the same groups as Hartley, he lost his fiancé, Rob.

David smiles. “It is. Mind if I sit with you?”

Hartley nods and indicates the empty chair at the same time he realizes just how attractive he finds David. He tells himself to stop noticing. He’s broke and dating can be expensive. Also, David is mourning the loss of his fiancé. Maybe he could make a friend though?

How long has it been since he tried to make a friend?

Then the doubts seep in. Maybe David just wants to talk to him because he knows Hartley used to work at Star Labs. Maybe David has questions and he thinks Hartley has answers. Could Hartley really unburden himself to this man he barely knows?

David smiles, then asks him about his favorite movie. They spend an hour talking about movies. Coffee somehow turns into dinner, then they go see a movie. After they exchange numbers.

“I want to kiss you,” David tells him, smile wistful. “I didn’t really expect this. I’d been wanting to talk to you, you listen to everyone and your supportive, but you don’t engage much. I…”

David breaks off with an embarrassed noise and glances away. 

Hartley reaches out and squeezes his hand, then reassures, “You’re grieving.”

Their fingers intertwine briefly, David squeezes his hand. “So are you.”

Hartley wets his lips. How does he explain that he’s grieving himself, that he lost a part of who he was in that explosion? He lost a friend and colleague? He lost his trust in his mentor? His world doesn’t make sense anymore.

David steps close, turning the hand holding into a hug and Hartley lets himself sink into that. He wraps his arms around David and rubs his back. He lets himself be held. 

Hartley goes back to the coffee shop the next day, then the day after. He nearly drops his coffee when he sees Ronnie walking up the sidewalk, even though that’s why he’s here. Ronnie looks messier than Hartley’s ever seen him. There’s stubble on his chin and his clothes are dirty. He reeks when Hartley gets close. He doesn’t stop when Hartley calls out to him. Hartley rushes to catch up.

Ronnie glares when Hartley stops him. “That’s not my name.”

“What’s your name, then?” Hartley challenges. If this guy isn’t Ronnie, then he’s his twin.

“Professor Martin Stein.”

Hartley shakes his head. “No.”

He’s met Clarissa Stein. This isn’t her husband. 

“You don’t look like him at all,” Hartley protests. Ronnie tries to brush past him. Hartley puts a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go see Caitlin, she can help us figure this out.”

There’s no recognition at her name.

“No,” Ronnie glares, shoving past him.

Hartley rushes to catch up again. “At least let me buy you dinner, get you some clothes that aren’t a mess.”

Ronnie stops. Hartley thinks for one brief moment he’s gotten through and if he can get Ronnie to spend time with him then he can get ahold of Caitlin. Maybe together they can figure out why Ronnie thinks he’s Martin Stein. 

Ronnie turns and slaps him. The fear that he might lose one of his hearing aids hit Hartley first, but he’s not doubling over in pain. He checks his ears, one is loose, but that’s easily fixed. His cheek stings. He’s shaking as he watches Ronnie walk away. It takes him a moment to catch his breath.

He goes home to ice and researches Martin Stein. After work the next day he goes to Star Labs and walks around outside of it. He’s never wanted to see the proof that people died just standing there. Now he forces himself to look, to see.

He starts trying to look into the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. project. There isn’t much he can find, but he’s starting to have an idea that maybe both Martin Stein and Ronnie are alive. He wants to ask Cisco or Caitlin about his idea, but he’s not scheduled to be at Star Labs until the end of the week and both of them have stopped texting him casually. Wells is always right there when Hartley’s in the lab. 

He tells David his idea. David frowns. “So, he’s two people and their ability is to be one person?”

“I just can’t figure out how it’d be stable,” Hartley frowns. He’s not going to be able to figure this out on his own. He needs someone to bounce ideas off of. He can’t trust any of his colleges at Mercury labs with this and though Caitlin and Cisco would want the information, would they even believe him?

David squeezes his hands. “Just be careful. There have been conflicting reports of what some people can do now, but the ones we’ve encountered, a lot of them have just disappeared.”

“Encountered?”

“Whoever has been helping us. All the people that have disappeared were breaking the law, hurting, sometimes even killing people, but then we get help. I guess this person is moving quickly? They’re fast, but after they help the person disappears and I don’t know if they’re illegally imprisoning people or killing them. For all I know the person I think is trying to help the police force, isn’t.”

Hartley thinks about the equipment he’s seen at Star Labs, the red suit and realize David is talking about Barry Allen. He wets his lips. Is Star Labs secretly imprisoning meta humans? Is Wells sending Barry out to collect them? If Hartley stops showing up for his consultations with Caitlin will he end up imprisoned? Caitlin wouldn’t do that to Ronnie.

“I have to look into it more, maybe there’s just something I’m not seeing yet,” Hartley reassures David. 

“Just be careful, okay?”

Hartley agrees. He wonders briefly if he should tell David that he’s meta human, but then they segue into lighter topics. Hartley isn’t sure what to do about how comfortable he feels with David. He wants to trust David, but will David look at him the same when he realizes Hartley didn’t double check Wells’ calculations: that if Hartley had just done his job the way he’d always done it that maybe David’s fiancé would still be alive?

Then Caitlin gets kidnapped by Captain Cold and Heat Wave. Hartley reacts by callings Star Labs, asking how he can help.

“You can’t,” Wells tells him before hanging up.

Of course ‘The Flash’ reveals himself in a showdown with Captain Cold and Heat Wave before Hartley learns that Caitlin is safe. A part of him wants to see her so he can convince himself she’s safe. Another part of him doesn’t want to see her. How does he look at her and not tell her what he suspects about Ronnie? How would she look at him if he’s wrong?

When Hartley gets home from work the next day there’s a man in a parka lying on his couch. His feet are propped up over the back of the couch as he flips through a magazine. Briefly Hartley thinks about making himself invisible, finding a way to get away, and calling for help. Who would he call though? He can’t risk David with Captain Cold and Wells isn’t going to care so neither is Barry Allen.

Then a larger man walks in with Hartley’s rat on his shoulder. Hartley steps into his apartment, letting the door close behind him as he turns to Heat Wave. “Put Axl back in his cage.”

“But he likes me,” Heat Wave protests.

“Got a proposal for you,” Captain Cold drawls out to get his attention as he sits up and sets the magazine aside.

“You kidnapped my friend,” Hartley glares.

“Didn’t hurt her,” Heat Wave defends, then admits. “Scared her a little.”

Hartley crosses his arms. 

Captain Cold smirks as he walks over. “Are you sure she’s your friend?”

Hartley isn’t sure how to respond.

“I’m putting a team together to help me go against the Flash,” Captain Cold tells him. “You have powers and lab access.”

“Why are you so opposed to the Flash?” Hartley tries.

Going against Barry would be going against Wells and Hartley needs to find a way to go against Wells.

“Well, first agenda is to rob a bank, going to need funds. Second agenda is to find out where all these metas are going.”

“Why would the second agenda matter to you?” Hartley asks, finding himself intrigued.

“Variables,” Captain Cold tells him. “The more variables I understand the easier it is to plan. The Flash just ups the game and I love a good heist.”

He’ll tell them about Wells, Hartley decides, but not about Allen. 

“That tech kid likes to hand out codenames,” Heat Wave puts in.

Cisco isn’t coming up with a nickname for him.

“Pied Piper,” Hartley tells them. “What’s the plan?”


End file.
